Nonprofit Strategy

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There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations registered in the U.S. That’s a lot of competition for charitable giving, making strategy and business planning as important for nonprofits as it is in the for-profit world. While nonprofits don’t work to maximize profits, they do work to maximize their impact. Facing increasing pressure from donors and philanthropists to make a tangible difference for the constituents they serve, strategic choices are critically important. For nearly 20 years, we have brought a blend of for-profit rigor and nonprofit sensitivity to our work for nonprofits. Here are a few examples.

Charity Navigator

We worked with the CEO and leadership of this leading evaluator of charities to clearly define their Theory of Change and develop a strategy for growth and evolution to Charity Navigator 3.0. We also designed their business plan to guide implementation over the next few years.

New England Aquarium (Choice Catch)

The environmental division of the aquarium had a collaborative agreement with Stop & Shop supermarkets to take actions aimed at improving sustainability of the global seafood supply. The aquarium was providing information to the chain’s seafood buyers to help them work toward this goal, but progress had stalled. We assisted the aquarium’s conservation team with developing a fresh approach. This effort enabled Stop & Shop to institute procurement policies and collaborate with their suppliers to make progress on this global issue.

National Brain Tumor Society

Working with the leadership of the largest brain tumor focused nonprofit, we facilitated a transition from primarily providing grants to individual scientists to developing an innovative approach that engages leading cancer-research institutions in collaborative research. This collaborative effort, called Defeat GBM, is already yielding promising developments.